Scrawni 2

How bad are the water restrictions on down on the east coast? Are there any plans to deal with them and how to you live day to day with it?

Mandy

Nerine

Well where I am it really doesn't affect us too much, we're in a rental so haven't got to water a garden or anything like that. I think the people who do have probably got rainwater tanks they use for that sort of thing.

The water still comes out of the tap as it should, the water theme parks are fully open but there aren't any public fountains running, so not as bad as some of the water restrictions they used to have back in the UK where you'd see stand pipes on the street.

I think there are plans to use de-salinated or re-cycled water if things get really bad, but Brisbane is a bit more at risk than we are. When the lights go out then I'll start worrying because the power stations use masses of water for cooling and if they haven't got enough......

Pollyana

The lights go out frequently as a result of the storms, nothing to do with the water supply. Power supply here can be erratic at this time of year, and you have to look out for brown-outs through the storm season too - they can damage applicances beyond repair.

pominNoosa

G'day

We have plenny of warda here on the sunshine coast! At the moment it seems to be raining at least once a day, usually at night though which is more convenient! As a result our rainwater tank is overflowing. Our property's not on mains water - cuts rates by about half. If we're desperate we can order more water to be delivered! Apparently Noosa is on level 2 restrictions (you can still water your garden and wash your car) but, from what I can gather from Noosa residents, it's a grudging concession to some idiot politician's declaration that Noosa residents are unAustralian in their attitude to saving water while the rest of the country is struggling. Noosa's curently got more water than you can shake a stick at - if you so wanted.

Don't know about Gold Coast. Brisbane's situation is pretty dire -dam levels at about 20% (average) of capacity according to SEQ Water.

Becky

bcworld

...both desalinated & recycled water WILL be used. And the Gold Coast is in the same boat as Brisbane as the Hinze dam is a part of the water grid and so if Brisbane's dams were to become too empty they would draw on the Gold Coast's supply. And Brisbane could drink the Hinze Dam pretty quickly!

Sunny Coast has loads of water.

moneypenny20

We're on Level 6 which means you can only water your garden with a bucket for a couple of hours 3 days a week but it truly pisses me off big time that people are still watering their gardens. Personally I'd have dead plants and water to drink than the other way round.

Everyone should only be having 4minute showers which doesn't sound much but is easily long enough even with long hair. Pools can't be filled by taps, they have to pay to tank it in (generally from Tweed now I think)

The Hinze dam is not too bad but because we are now on the grid with Brissie who seem to be doing sod all to cut consumption, it won't last long. The rain we've had the last month or so has given us a few more weeks of water if it were to stop now.

We've put in a huge tank and only use that so we've not used town water since August. People up in Brissie have been taking their tanks out because.... I don't know to be honest. Everyone should have the biggest tank they can fit and if they're building they should have a big bugger put in under the property or factor it in anyway. Building a new house and then adding a 3,000 ltr tank is daft.

All new houses, IMO should have big tanks for rainwater and also underground tanks for the grey water instead of letting it disappear into soakaways.

I'll get off my soapbox now

bcworld

....don't think that's exactly fair - I think most people in Brissie are doing a lot to save water and it shows in the water consumption figures. Yes, the BCC just stuck 2.5 million litres in the South Bank swimming pool but then you had that 'Wet Weekend' down on the Gold Coast a while back - carte blanche to waste water.

moneypenny20

Don't know what you heard about that 'wet weekend' but it was sod all really. With respect to the Brissie usage, I am only going by what I've read with people taking out tanks and some of the big businesses not doing enough to cut back. It wasn't a dig at Brissie, we all need water and for some reason your dams don't appear to be in catchment areas. Obviously we all have to share, the Gold Coast was helped out years ago when it was the other way round, my big moan is about selfish people who don't see the need to cut back just because it rains occasionally.

Roll on the desalination plant and stop the Neanderthal mentality to recycled water and we'd all be fine.

Nerine

Moneypen ...re. soap box etc. that's very interesting. Why on earth are people taking tanks out? very peculiar! It makes sense to use every drop wisely, plant natives that don't need watering too rather than watering things like roses so there's enough water to go round.

Thanks for the tip about Brown outs Pollyana, no stranger to those (we were off for quite a few days not long ago) but will make sure we dig out the surge arresters after seeing some of the electrical storms here! When/if push comes to shove it will be interesting to see who gets first call over water supplies - the power companies or the water suppliers. Can just imagine a Feb without fans or air conditioning would be pretty dire, just hope both have got good contingency plans.

Thinking back to tanks though, wasn't it not so long ago that water tanks were frowned on because mozzies bred in them, wonder if that's why people take them out?

bcworld

...people were getting tanks to allow them to water their gardens / fill their pools. The council (or govt??) has now changed the rules to state that to be eligible for the rebates the tank has to be plumbed to the domestic supply for toilet flushing etc. There is whole lot of extra expense in this so tank sales have now plummeted.

danbex85

WATER, What's that?
Things are sooooooooooo tight over here:
-Can't flush the toilet
-Can't have a shower
-Can't wash your hands
-Can't drink
-Can't do anything that involves water

Oh crap! due to lack of water I am soon going to die of dehydration, but even worse than that I will die smelly as cant shower due to level 1800000000000 water restrictions!

Only joking!!!!

Water is restricted (I think we are on level 2 at the mo) but it doesn't create too much of a problem. You simply get used to it and try to do your best. You can still wash your car etc but you just have to ensure that the hose has a trigger. Just little things like that really.

pominNoosa

Totally agree with you about the watering garden situation - I lived in Bris before moving to Noosa. Surely humans are more important?

Our garden is full of native plants that can just about survive whatever the weather. On a rainwater tank, if it's a choice between us or them, then that's their bad luck! We have an extended hose that's attached to the outlet on the back of our frontloader washing machine and goes out of the window to water a good length of the garden. We use eco friendly washing liquid so we don't actually kill off the plants with our good intentions!

Front loaders are more water efficient than the aussie favourite toploader and in QLD they give you a rebate if you buy one. Bloody expensive though!

Becky

pominNoosa

Eek! what's a brown out? Sounds revolting.

Becky

bcworld

Its where the power doesn't go out altogether (a black out) but the voltage is reduced - often might happen on those 35C+ days when all the air conditioners in Brisbane are cranked up and Qld's creaky infrastructure rears its head again. Brown outs can be very damaging to appliances.

danbex85

I was also wondering what a brown out was - thanks for letting us know.